


Beautiful

by perhael



Category: Free!
Genre: F/F, Light Angst, Reigisa Week, Rule 63, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, reigisa week 2015
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-18
Updated: 2015-01-18
Packaged: 2018-03-08 02:01:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3191327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/perhael/pseuds/perhael
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nagisa has never worried about her looks before, and she doesn't understand why it suddenly bothers her that she's cute rather than beautiful.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Beautiful

It was an uncharacteristically hot day in spring, and Nagisa Hazuki was fidgeting in her seat. The weather was far too perfect to be spending the day in boring classes, but the teacher was droning on about equations and imaginary numbers and all that boring stuff that Rei-chan liked but which made Nagisa want to tear out her hair.

She’d given up trying to focus on the lesson in favor of letting her mind wander while she idly doodled a variety of cute animals in the margins of her notebook. Lately she’d been working on a problem, one that had nothing to do with maths or school. Well... maybe it had a little bit to do with school, or at least with the people in it. 

The problem, Nagisa lamented inwardly as she put the finishing touch on a penguin wearing a hat and sunglasses, was that she was cute.

Now this, in itself, was not a problem. Nagisa liked being cute. It let her get away with a lot of mischief, and on top of that it made people want to give her candy, which was the opposite of a problem.

The problem arose when she compared herself to the girls around her. Because while Nagisa was cute, her friends were _beautiful_.

From her seat at the back of the class, she peeked two rows ahead at the studious figure of her friend and classmate. From the first moment she’d seen her, Nagisa had been impressed with Rei-chan’s beauty. Her tall body was packed with lean muscle, and while her features were almost statuesque, there was something so endearingly awkward about her demeanor that she never seemed distant to Nagisa, despite her initially stand-offish attitude.

By comparison, Nagisa was short and, even at her age, had yet to lose the baby fat in her cheeks. Frustratingly, her cheeks were the only place she seemed to have any padding, despite her fondness for all things sweet and calorie-rich. She barely had a girl’s figure at all, and if it hadn’t been for her soft face, she might have been mistaken for a young boy. Such were the thoughts that ran glumly through her head. 

The one thing she did like about her body were her legs. As a swimmer, her thighs and calves were nicely defined, and she liked to wear thigh-high socks to accentuate the fact. She sometimes wondered what she’d look like wearing heels, but if her parents ever caught her wearing them they’d probably kill her... if her brothers didn’t get there first. No way was she risking a week’s house arrest over a pair of shoes.

If pressed, she would admit that she also quite liked her hair, unruly as it was. While other kids at school had to dye their hair to achieve a similar look, Nagisa had inherited her blond locks from her half-Japanese mom. Still, even her hair fell more into the category of “cute” rather than “beautiful”... she supposed she could get a more mature haircut, but the short, tousled look suited her. And therein lay the crux of the problem: being cute suited Nagisa. Her looks matched her outlook on life and her bubbly personality, and she’d never been unhappy with them before.

 _Then why am I so worried about it now?_ she asked herself, thoughtfully chewing on the end of her mechanical pencil. 

It was true that she didn’t have Haru’s dreamy blue eyes and gorgeous, glossy black hair, or Makoto’s kind, gentle smile and taut curves. I was true that she didn’t have Rin’s fiery locks and equally fiery personality, or Ai’s striking silver hair and beauty mark. It was true that her friends were beautiful... but she was cute, and that had always been enough.

 

She was still turning the question over in her mind at lunchtime, sitting on the grass in the shade of a large cherry tree with Rei, Haru and Makoto. Makoto had sensibly suggested that the rooftop would be too hot in this weather, so they had foregone their usual spot in favor of something more leafy.

Nagisa laughed and chatted and scarfed down her lunch with her usual gusto, but a small part of her couldn’t help but notice the way the dappled sunlight brought out the gold in Makoto’s hazelnut-colored hair, or how pretty Haru’s face looked in profile as she stared up at the clouds. Rei was loudly expounding on the swimming theory books she’d read over their spring break, proclaiming that her butterfly form was surely _perfect_ now, and her proud smile was so beautiful it made Nagisa’s chest hurt.

 

That afternoon at swim practice, Haru was in the pool before Gou had even finished outlining their training regimen. The young redhead shook his head in annoyed resignation. "Haruka-senpai..." 

"Sorry, Gou-kun," Makoto apologized on Haru's behalf. "You know how she gets around water..."

They all took a moment to watch Haru's form gliding through the water like a dolphin. Her lithe body seemed to be made for swimming, at home in the water in a way she never was on land. Her fluid movements exuded pure joy and freedom.

Next to her, Nagisa heard Rei whisper "Beautiful..."

The word hit Nagisa like a punch to the chest. Tears were pricking at her eyes, and she blinked furiously to try to keep them at bay. 

“Nagisa? Are you alright?” Makoto’s voice, kind and gentle and so very, very unwanted right at this moment. 

“It’s nothing! I just... I have to go, uh, somewhere! Bye!” 

Turning on her heel, Nagisa fled in the direction of the locker rooms. She was going to cry, and she didn’t want anyone seeing her like that. She was Nagisa Hazuki, sister to three older brothers and far too tough to cry. She was Nagisa Hazuki, cheerful and happy now that she was at Iwatobi High with her friends and not miserably alone in middle school. She was Nagisa Hazuki, and she’d just realized she was in love with her best friend.

 

“Nagisa-san? Nagisa...” 

Nagisa looked up from where she was huddled over on a bench in the locker room, her face blotchy and red and her eyes filled with tears. _Not beautiful at all._

“Nagisa?”

Rei was approaching her cautiously, her posture awkward and stiff as it always was in difficult social situations. 

“I... you seemed upset, so I came to check on you... is something wrong? Are you hurt? Should I get Amakata-sensei?” Rei tried.

“Rei-chan,” Nagisa sobbed, flinging herself into the taller girl’s arms. “Rei-chaaaaan, I’m so unhappy...”

Rei stood stiff with shock for a moment before awkwardly reaching around to pat Nagisa on the back. “There, there... um... won’t you tell me what's making you unhappy?”

Nagisa buried her face in Rei’s shoulder and sobbed uncontrollably, all her recent worries crowding to the forefront of her mind and tumbling from her lips in an unstoppable torrent of words. 

“Rei-chan, I’ve felt so unhappy lately and I didn’t understand why, I just kept thinking that everyone was beautiful except for me, and it shouldn’t have bothered me because I’m cute and that’s my thing but suddenly I was just so worried and I...” she paused to take a hiccuping breath, and as she did so she pulled back a little to look up at Rei, her eyes still wet with tears.

“And just now, I realized... I don’t care at all if I’m short or tall or flat or curvy... I just want Rei-chan to think I’m beautiful.” 

She averted her eyes, overcome with a sudden shyness. What must Rei-chan think of her now? Did Rei-chan even understand? Had Nagisa just messed up their friendship?

In the next moment, Nagisa felt Rei’s strong arms around her back, pulling her into a bone-crushing hug.

“Nagisa... my Nagisa, you are the most beautiful person I know.” 

Nagisa pulled back, suddenly needing to see her friend's face. “Really?” she asked, grasping Rei’s hands in both of hers. “You really think that?”

Rei nodded, her expression shy but determined. “I’ve always thought so,” she admitted quietly. “Even when I thought you were just pestering me because you needed someone for your club, I thought your smile was like sunlight. And the more I got to know you, the more apparent your beauty became to me, to the point where I didn’t dare look you in the eye for too long for fear of giving myself away.”

“Rei-chan...” Nagisa beamed. “Rei-chan... we’ve both given ourselves away now, haven’t we?”

Rei smiled. It was a shy, happy smile. “I suppose we have at that, Nagisa-chan.”

Nagisa squeezed Rei’s hands tightly. “Rei-chan, would you... will you go on a date with me? This Saturday?”

Rei blushed furiously, but her eyes were shining. “I’d love to, Nagisa-chan."

 

The next day was still uncomfortably hot, and class was still boring. Nagisa once more found it impossible to sit still, and kept sneaking glances at the girl sitting two rows ahead of her. This time, however, there were no dark thoughts chasing themselves around her head. Instead, she was busy ignoring the teacher in favor of planning ahead for her upcoming date. _A picnic in the park, followed by a walk on the beach, and ooh, maybe an amusement park..._

When she came out of her daydream, it was to catch Rei looking back over her shoulder at her. Nagisa grinned, a bright, happy grin, and Rei smiled back before hurriedly turning to face the board again. 

Sighing happily, Nagisa was about to return to her daydreaming when she noticed a folded piece of paper on the floor by her feet. Her heart started beating faster. Had Rei-chan thrown it there while Nagisa wasn’t looking? Was it a secret message? Would her serious, studious Rei-chan really be so bold?

Making sure that the teacher wasn’t looking, Nagisa quickly bent down and retrieved the piece of paper. Darting a quick look around, she unfolded it with trembling hands. On it was a single kanji, written in Rei’s bold, precise script. 

_Beautiful._


End file.
